STERLING - Dave Denly has lost more close games to the Sterling College women's basketball team than he cares to remember in his 10 years as Southwestern's coach.

Gene Schinzel - The Hutchinson News - gschinzel@hutchnews.com

Thursday

Jan 10, 2008 at 12:01 AMJan 10, 2008 at 5:00 PM

He finally won one of those games on Thursday and, in the process, ended a long drought against the Warriors.

Kara Beal hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 3.1 seconds left to give Southwestern a 53-51 victory in a matchup of KCAC leaders.

It was Southwestern's first win over Sterling since the 1979-80 season, a span of more than 60 games. It also was the first time Sterling coach Lonnie Kruse, who has won 566 career games with the Warriors, has lost to the Moundbuilders.

"This is a place with a lot of tradition. Being able to win here is like stealing one," Denly said. "Lonnie has been like a mentor to me. If I'm half as successful as he has been, I'll be happy."

The Moundbuilders, who moved into first place in the KCAC by a half-game over the Warriors, led 51-49 in the final minute when Sterling's Cami Racette hit two free throws with 23 seconds left to create the 10th tie of the night.

Beal then missed a 16-footer with eight seconds left, but she was fouled as she scrambled for the loose ball near the sideline. Beal then knocked down the free throws. Sterling wasn't able to get off an attempt after that.

The Warriors (6-7), who shot only 32 percent from the field and were outrebounded 49-31, led 39-33 with 11:40 left after Racette hit a short jumper. That was Sterling's seventh field goal of the second half, matching its first half output.

But the Moundbuilders answered with a 16-2 run, fueled by the post play of Tylar Hartfield.

Hartfield, who was shut out in the first half, scored eight points during the run, including back-to-back baskets on the low block to give Southwestern the 49-41 lead with 5:40 left. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Facing its biggest deficit of the game, Sterling answered with eight straight points, tying it at 49-49 after a putback by Hilary Stucky with 3:05 left. That, however, was Sterling's last field goal of the night.

"We can't sustain anything. Fifty-one points for us is a joke," Sterling coach Lonnie Kruse said. "Our defense played all right. We held them to 53 points, but we need to score. We have to play better."

Southwestern regained the lead on a 15-foot jumper from Cortney Gandy with 1:40 left, setting up the final possessions.

Stucky led Sterling with 15 points and six rebounds.

Sterling men 70, Southwestern 64 - In another matchup of KCAC leaders, Sterling rallied from eight points down with 14 minutes to play to defeat the Moundbuilders.

Sterling improved to 4-0 in the conference and 9-5 overall, while the Moundbuilders, the preseason favorite in the KCAC, dropped to 3-2 in the league and 8-7 overall.

Southwestern led for most of the first half, thanks to a 12-1 run which gave the Moundbuilders a 25-17 lead with 7:15 left in the half.

Southwestern's lead stayed between two and 10 points until the Warriors went on 10-2 run to tie it at 47-47 with 10:45 left in the game.

That's when 5-foot-8 freshman Zach Goodrich scored nine consecutive points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to give the Warriors a 56-49 lead with 6:51 left.

Southwestern cut the deficit to 63-62 with 2:10 left, but Jonathan Woods hit a 15-footer and Shane Stover sank a 25-footer with the shot clock running down on the next possession, icing the win.

Tony Stewart led four Warriors in double figures with 16 points, while Stover added 13.

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